Chapter 80

a testimony, of Asaph, a song: A song of testimony in which he alluded to the three exiles and prayed about them. For it is mentioned in this psalm three times: “Return us, cause Your countenance to shine, and we shall be saved,” and in it, he alluded to the troubles that were destined to befall them in the days of the house of Jehu, from the kings of Aram. For it is stated (II Kings 13:7): “for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like dust to trample.”

2O Shepherd of Israel, hearken, He Who leads Joseph like flocks, He Who dwells between the cherubim, appear.

Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh: when they need Your salvation. Although they are wicked and undeserving, arouse Your might for them. But why? Because it is for You to save us. It is fitting for You and it is incumbent upon You to save, whether guilty or innocent, as it was said to Moses in Egypt (Exod. 3:7): “I have seen the affliction of My people.” Why is the word for seeing repeated? I see that they are destined to provoke Me. Nevertheless, I have seen their affliction, because of the oath that I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Ephraim: in the war with Aram, when he besieged Samaria and sent emissaries to Ahab (I Kings 20:3): “Your silver and gold are mine; your beautiful wives and children are mine.”

Manasseh: in the days of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, as it is said (II Kings 13:4, 7): “for He saw Israel’s oppression, etc., for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like dust to trample.” And he beat him in war three times, as it is said (II Kings 13:25): “Joash overcame him three times and recovered the cities of Israel.”

Benjamin: in the time of Ahasuerus, when Mordechai and Esther were in danger, and all Israel depended on them.

and it is for You to save us: Heb. ולכה. This is not an expression of going, but is like לְ, and so it is in the Masorah of (Gen. 27:37): “and for you (ולכה) then,” of Jacob; (II Sam. 18:22) “since for you (ולכה) there is no [reward] given for news” ; (Isa. 3:6), “You have (לכה) a garment; be an officer to us, etc.”

and You have given them to drink tears in large measure: Heb. שליש. In Babylon, where they were for seventy years, a third (שליש) of the two hundred and ten of Egypt. I learned this from the work of Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan. It may also be interpreted as regards the kingdom of Greece, which represents the third trouble. If you ask, is that [not] the fourth, because Persia and Media came before, all the seventy years of the Babylonian exile are only one exile. Menachem (p. 175) interprets שליש as the name of a drinking vessel. So he explained (Isa. 40:12): “and He measured with a ‘shalish’ the dust of the earth.” Our Sages explained it (Mid. Ps. 80:4) as referring to the three tears that Esau shed, concerning whom it is said (Gen. 27:34): “and he cried a cry.” That is one. “A great one.” That is two. “And a bitter one.” That is three. Because of them, he merited to live by his sword, as it is said (Gen. 27: 40): “and it will come to pass when you complain, etc.”

7You have made us the target of strife to our neighbors, and our enemies mock themselves.

You have made us the target of strife: You have made us the target of strife to all our neighbors, for the Greeks have quarreled with us.

8O God of Hosts, return us; cause Your countenance to shine and we shall be saved.

חאֱלֹהִ֣ים צְבָא֣וֹת הֲשִׁיבֵ֑נוּ וְהָאֵ֥ר פָּ֜נֶ֗יךָ וְנִוָּשֵֽׁעָה:

return us, etc., and we shall be saved: from the Greeks.

9You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out nations and planted it.

טגֶּפֶן מִמִּצְרַ֣יִם תַּסִּ֑יעַ תְּגָרֵ֥שׁ גּ֜וֹיִ֗ם וַתִּטָּעֶֽהָ:

You uprooted a vine from Egypt: He went back and alluded to the exile of the Romans. The vine of Israel, which You uprooted from Egypt. You uprooted them from there, as (Job 19:10): “He has uprooted (ויסע) my hope like a tree.” Afterwards, You drove out the seven nations and planted Israel in their land.

11Mountains were covered [by] its shade, and its branches were great cedars.

יאכָּסּ֣וּ הָרִ֣ים צִלָּ֑הּ וַֽ֜עֲנָפֶ֗יהָ אַרְזֵי־אֵֽל:

and its branches were great cedars: Heb. ארזי אל, like strong cedars, i.e., mighty kings.

12It sent forth its branches until the sea, and to the river its tender shoots.

יבתְּשַׁלַּ֣ח קְצִירֶ֣הָ עַד־יָ֑ם וְאֶל־נָ֜הָ֗ר יֽוֹנְקוֹתֶֽיהָ:

It sent forth its branches: Heb. קצירה. It sent forth its branches, as (Job 14:9): “and it will produce a branch (קציר).”

until the sea: Its boundary was until the Mediterranean Sea.

and to the river its tender shoots: The width of Eretz Israel is from the desert to the Euphrates River.

13Why have You breached its fences, so that all wayfarers have plucked its fruit?

יגלָמָּה פָּרַ֣צְתָּ גְדֵרֶ֑יהָ וְ֜אָר֗וּהָ כָּל־עֹ֥בְרֵי דָֽרֶךְ:

Why: now?

have You breached its fences: of that vineyard?

so that all wayfarers have plucked its fruit: וארוה. All who came plucked it, as (Song 5:1): “I gathered (אריתי) my myrrh with my spices.” Similarly, in the language of the Mishnah (Shevi’ith 1:2): “as much space as is required by a picker (אורה) and his basket.”

14The boar from the forest gnaw at it, and the creeping things of the field graze on it?

ידיְכַרְסְמֶ֣נָּה חֲזִ֣יר מִיָּ֑עַר וְזִ֖יז שָׂדַ֣י יִרְעֶֽנָּה:

The boar from the forest gnaws at it: Heb. יכרסמנה, as (Peah 2:7): “A field that the ants have nibbled (קרסמוה),” an expression of plucking out.

from the forest: Heb. מיער. The “ayin” is suspended (as though it were written with an “aleph”). If Israel is worthy, the enemies are like the beasts of the river, which have no strength to climb out upon the dry land; but when retribution is decreed upon them, he (sic) grows strong as the beast of the forest, which destroys and kills. The boar of the forest is Esau, as is written (Dan. 7:7): “It devoured and broke in pieces and the rest it trampled with its feet.” And it (the swine) has some signs of purity. Esau, too, has the merit of his fathers.

and the creeping things of the field: Heb. זיז, all creeping things of the field. The expression זיז means anything that constantly moves from its place.

graze upon it: Graze upon it and its branches and eat them.

15O God of Hosts, return now; look from heaven and see, and be mindful of this vine,

And of the foundation that Your right hand has planted: Which is founded and established, which Your right hand has planted, an expression of (Gen. 40:13): “and restore you to your office (כנך).”

and over the son You have strengthened for Yourself: And over Esau, who was a beloved son to this father, who would call him, “my son.” You strengthened the vine of Jacob for Yourself, as it is said (Gen. 27:40): “and You will serve your brother.” Now it is…

17Burned with fire [and] cut off; from the rebuke of Your countenance they perish.

O Lord God of Hosts: Here are mentioned three holy names, yet in the middle case two names and in the first case one name. All this is according to the intensity of the exile, the trouble, and the redemption (which shall surely come).